Vault Review:
WFC Optimus Prime

Vault

Here we have Optimus Prime in all his Cybertronian glory. His tiny, tiny glory. Why is he so small? I realize Transformers aren’t exactly strict when it comes to rules on scale, but there should be a rule that Optimus needs to stand at least three inches above Bumblebee. I wonder how tall Megatron and Soundwave will be compared to him.

What Optimus lacks in stature, he makes up for in articulation. He’s got a ball jointed head, thighs, and ankles. His shoulders are swivel hinges. The elbows, torso, and toes are hinged while the knees are double hinged. And there are swivel joints on his biceps, wrists, waist, and center thighs.

Prime’s sculpt, like in vehicle mode, is mostly accurate to the video game design. The best part about it is his head, which has a very determined look about it. I’m not sure how the sculptors pulled that off since you can’t see his mouth, but it’s there. The worst sculpted part of the figure is his hands. Basically they’re closed fists with a hole drilled through. I’m not a big fan of that design. We’ve come a long way in hand sculpting over the years, drilled out fists aren’t necessary anymore. Especially Optimus Prime, who should have some sort of finger gesture sculpted. Now where will my Autobots know where they’re rolling out to?

Prime comes with one accessory, his large gun, which is also sort of transformable. The gun is molded black and has two springs in it. One allows the gun to fold in half, the other allows the little wing on its side to clip down and hold the gun in its folded pose. This function doesn’t work so well though, and any jostling will release the spring, popping the gun into its original form.

All around, this figure is just OK. I don’t care much for the vehicle. He’s way too small for my tastes. And even though he can pose well, he’ll always be punching someone. All these things would probably be a little easier to accept if it wasn’t for the Bumblebee in this line being so much better. He’s an example of what Optimus should have been, instead he’s a reminder of what Optimus isn’t. Even with all my complaints, I have to admit he still looks good standing on the shelf.

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16 thoughts on “Vault Review:
WFC Optimus Prime”

  1. Reading your review, I get the feeling that being a casual TF collector limits you. I don’t mean that to come across negatively, but if you had more deluxe TFs you would no doubt be better able to see what this Prime “is” instead of isn’t.

    Once you get him into robot mode, he’s much better than the deluxe figures offered in the last few years. His articulation is way above par. And truthfully he’s not too short. In terms of deluxes, it’s more that Bumblebee is simply too big.

    And did you notice the Cybertronian markings on him in mid-transformation? I thought that was a nice touch.

    1. You’re probably right. Since I only collect Transformers sporadically, I don’t get the overall feel of an entire line the way that I would with MOTU or DC Classics. You hard core TF fans have way different standards than us casual fans do.

      I do like his robot mode, except for the hands. And his range of movement is great. I wonder why they didn’t make Bumblebee a smaller class?

      And I didn’t even notice those Cybertronian markings, thanks for pointing them out!

      1. The generations line is only deluxe class- which is also why Seaspray ended up in the movie line. Plus do you think Bumblebee would work very well as a scout class figure? Those figures are neat, but the last figure in that class based off an existing show/movie/game design was Scalpel/the doctor from ROTF. And he sucked.

        I disagree with you on the drilled fists though. while open hands with just enough of a curve in the palm to hold 5mm pegs like Bumblebee’s hands would have been nice, the closed design is more secure.

  4. It pains me to see that Vault’s Transformer reviews don’t get as much love.

    I’m in the group that prefers WFC Prime and isn’t quite as impressed with WFC Bumblebee. Bumbles is a decent figure, he’s just lanky and looks more beer-gutted than he should – the character in the game is more stocky and powerful looking.

    I do feel you on the “Fast and Furious” point though – I too would have preferred more translucent plastic. Oddly enough, I am in the pathetic crowd of Transformer fans that usually needs the instructions (and am infuriated with how regularly crappy modern instructions are). But with this guy, I don’t think he’s that bad. I like that in both modes it seems like everything has a place to go.

    Also, the little panels behind Prime’s shoulders hung fully up against the rear shoulder. I don’t know if you left them down as a personal preference, but they can fold up to look more streamlined.

    1. Yeah, I left those shoulders that way because I like the angled look.

      I do like Optimus’ transformation way better than Bee’s. It’s almost impossible to get Bee to transform properly. I don’t have that problem with Optimus. My biggest beef with the figure is that he should be bigger. Other than that, he’s grown on me quite a bit.

  5. I loved Prime. I agree that it’s Bumblebee that’s too big too. I can’t wait for Wave two of these!!

  6. Yeah, I don’t get the Prime hate I’m seeing. Bumblebee is fat and on stilts. Prime should always be voyager class or larger, but I love the robot and alt modes.

    1. I don’t mean to come off as hating. I think I was just expecting too much maybe. A bigger version would have made me a lot happier I think.

  8. I hope they go beyond the two waves for the War for Cybertron line. There are alot of ingame models that would make neat figures.

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